Jansen
Jansen v. Children's Hospital Medical Center
Opinion
Opinion
Draper, J.
Plaintiff mother, as special administratrix, sought damages for the wrongful death of her 5-year-old daughter, allegedly resulting from the malpractice of respondent hospital. She added a count for emotional trauma and allegedly resulting physical injury, caused to the mother individually by witnessing the progressive decline and ultimate death of her daughter in the hospital. The hospital demurred to the count seeking damages for the mother’s injury. The demurrer was sustained without leave to amend, the count was dismissed, and plaintiff appeals. This appeal concerns only the individual rights of the mother for her own alleged injuries.
The complaint alleges that: the daughter, suffering from some unspecified ailment, was admitted to the hospital at a date not specified; defendant agreed to “diagnose and treat” the daughter; it “negligently discharged those obligations” and as a proximate result the child died in the hospital. It is also' alleged that the mother accompanied her child to the hospital, “stayed with her for extended periods of time during her hospitalization”; “witnessed [her] last hours and her death”; the child “died painfully . . . from what was…